TRENTON, NJ and WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, the New Jersey legislature passed A3352 which will require new warehouses to be solar-ready buildings. If Governor Murphy signs this bill into law, new warehouses that are constructed on or after July 1, 2022 will need to include a building design that’s optimized for solar installations.

The bill defines warehouses as any building that is 100,000 square feet or more and primarily used to store goods for resale.

Following is a statement from Scott Elias, senior manager of state affairs for the Mid-Atlantic at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA):

“We commend Senator Smith and Assemblymen Kennedy, Stanley, and Calabrese for passing A3352, a commonsense bill that will make sure these massive warehouses use designs that facilitate clean energy use. Solar-ready buildings can significantly reduce the cost and time associated with retrofitting buildings for a solar installation. These are modest changes to building designs, but they can significantly impact a building’s ability to easily and cost-effectively transition to solar and storage.

“Encouraging solar on warehouses will help provide clean power in commercial and industrial areas where air pollution from fossil fuels is already a problem, while also delivering clean solar power to the grid, much closer to where the residents of New Jersey live.

“This bill is yet another opportunity for New Jersey to make progress on its goal to reach 17 gigawatts of solar by 2035. We urge Governor Murphy to sign this bill into law so that New Jersey can continue to be a national leader on solar energy.”

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